Philippe Clement has urged his Rangers players to block out the external noise ahead of their trip to powderkeg Pittodrie on Wednesday night.
Defeat would see the Belgian’s side fall nine points behind the Dons – and Celtic if Brendan Rodgers’ team also beat Dundee this evening.
For all Rangers backed up a midweek win over Romanians FCSB with a narrow victory over St Mirren last Sunday, an unconvincing performance intensified the pressure on Clement to become the first manager in Scotland to beat Jimmy Thelin’s side this season.
Adamant that his players should pay no heed to the current gap between his side and the Premiership’s top two, the 50-year-old said: ‘We’re not busy with that, because, like you say, it’s early in the season.
‘It’s about us. It’s about us taking the points. We need to take the points, we need to focus on that.
Clement has told his team to block out external noise surrounding Aberdeen match
The Rangers boss faces a tough adversary in Thelin, above, who is still unbeaten at Dons
Rangers player Connor Barron will be returning to his old Pittodrie stomping ground
‘We’re now, after this game, one quarter of the (way through the) season or something. Last season, we came back, we were in front, and at the end, you don’t get a title. So, it’s about us taking the points. It’s all about that.
‘And not looking at the others, because you lose time and energy for nothing. It’s about us taking as many points as possible and to raise our levels.’
Aware of the dangers of his players’ minds being scrambled by criticism on social media, Clement admits he’s told them to give it a wide berth for their own benefit.
‘Yeah, that’s a different world,’ he added. ‘And in that way, we’re still working on making steps with the group.
It’s not only about that – about noise and all those things. It’s also about playing every three days.
‘Playing European football combined with domestic games and having this rhythm of games. Your body needs to adapt. Your mind needs to adapt.
‘So, we’re working on all these things with a lot of players where it’s the first time that they are in this situation.’
Asked if he felt a win could be be a positive launchpad for the rest of the season, Clement replied: ‘For the outside or inside?
For inside, we’re going to go full for these three points and we’re going to go hard.
And we have confidence that we’re going to play a really good season.
‘We don’t need that moment to be ready for Sunday (League Cup semi with Motherwell), for example.
Tom Lawrence is expected to be available again after missing St Mirren match
‘We want to be ready for Sunday. So, it’s game by game, giving our best.’
Despite the Dons only dropping two points under their Swedish manager and boasting a perfect home record this term, Rangers are still favourites to win the match.
Clement insists he’s paying no attention to what the bookmakers are saying, though, adding: ‘I don’t speak about favourites before games, after games.
I never do. I never said it about us also. It’s just about tomorrow.
Who’s the best team? Or who’s the team who gets the points?
Souttar is also likely to return to line-up against Dons after an injury scare
Robin Propper could be part of the Rangers central defence at Pittodrie
‘And we’re going to go full throttle to get the three points. That’s our mindset.’
Despite injury scares which saw them miss the Saints’ match, Clement can call on Tom Lawrence and John Souttar although he’s unsure if either player will be able to complete 90 minutes.
With Robin Propper also available after departing the scene early last Sunday, Clement says he faces a difficult choice to get his central defensive pairing right.
‘It’s not what you want and what you think about before the game,’ he said. ‘It’s my job also to make the right decisions. That’s what I’m here for.’
